


Midnight Visit

by afteriwake



Category: CSI: NY
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-18
Updated: 2012-09-18
Packaged: 2017-11-14 12:36:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/515301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes a walk just isn't enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midnight Visit

**Author's Note:**

> This is a post "Dead Inside" fic. I'm going on the assumption that Jess and Don had been dating for a while, we just didn't get to see it.

She had been asleep when her phone rang. Before she even picked it up she had a good idea who it was.

"Jess?" she heard him say quietly. "I wake you up?"

"Yeah, but it's okay," she said, sitting up in her bed. "Walk wasn't enough?"

"No, not really." There was a pause. "Mind if I come over?"

"No, I don't mind," she said. "Where are you at?"

"Downstairs."

She smiled a bit. "I'll go buzz you in." She hung up the phone and looked around. She didn't exactly want him to see her in her pajamas so she changed out of them and put on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. Then she went out into her living room and buzzed him in.

She opened up the door before he even knocked. "How'd you..." he asked.

"It's midnight and it's quiet. I could hear you coming up in the elevator." She opened the door a little wider and stepped aside. "Come on in."

He looked around her apartment. It wasn't the first time he'd been there. They'd been together for a little while now, and there had been plenty of evenings where all they had the energy for was a movie on a couch. Their jobs rode them pretty hard some days. But this...this was riding him even harder than a typical day on the job. She could see it in his face, in the way his movement was slowed and his shoulders were slightly stumped. And part of her was relieved he was like this, only because it showed just how much he was hurting. If he'd been able to shrug it off than this was not the Flack she'd come to know and care a lot about.

He sat down on the couch. "Need something to eat or drink?" she asked.

"Water would be nice," he said as he relaxed back into the cushions.

"I'll get some," she replied. She headed into her kitchen and poured him some water. She wanted to ask so many questions, but she stayed quiet. Not even when she was handing him the glass did she say anything.

He took the glass and looked at her. "Want to sit next to me?"

"Was wondering if you wanted me to," she said, moving around her coffee table to sink on the cushion next to him. He put an arm around her shoulders and she snaked an arm across his waist. She could wait to ask him what was on his mind. She would wait until he started talking. She didn't want to push. He'd come to her, not just now but earlier in the evening.

After a few more minutes he spoke up. "I'm not going to tell her I know she went to the meeting. Not even when she tells me. I'm going to pretend it's news to me."

"That's probably a very good idea," she said. "She doesn't need to know you were following her tonight."

"Yeah." He began rubbing her back lightly and she was surprised. She didn't need the comforting tonight...he did. She was hoping that just being there was enough for him right now.

"Should have seen it coming. Should have seen it years ago, that she would have ended up on that road."

"Don, this...you can't blame yourself. She made a lot of her own decisions. And you didn't just give up on her. You told me that, when I told you about the incident a couple nights ago, how youir father had given up on her but you hadn't."

"Yeah, but maybe I could have stepped in earlier."

"If you had, you still might not have made a difference. She went to the meeting because she realized she needs help. If you'd tried to force her..." She trailed off for a moment. "She's going to come to you, because she trusts you and she loves you, and she knows that you haven't given up on her yet. If you'd tried to stop her she'd end up doing this all on her own. Now maybe she won't have to."

He nodded slowly as he shut his eyes. "I hope you're right."

"I hope I am too," she said.

He sat there for a few moments. "I don't want to go home tonight."

"You can stay here tonight, Don. It's not a problem."

"Thanks," he replied.

"You want to sleep out here or with me?" she asked, not really sure what his answer would be. They hadn't actually slept together yet, which had surprised her, but she didn't want to go down that road tonight.

"Not really wanting to be alone tonight," he said.

"Then let's get you to bed," she replied, moving away from him. She watched him get up and shrug out of his jacket and lay it on the back of her couch, and then take off his shoes. Then he looked over at her, waiting for her to tell him what to do next. She tilted her head towards her bedroom and headed towards it. He followed her. "Get comfortable."

He glanced at the nightgown tossed on the room of the floor. "I take it you don't normally sleep in sweats," he said, a small grin etching the sides of his mouth.

"Tonight I do," she said as she watched him climb into her bed. She wasn't sure where he wanted her to lay down next to him until he turned on his side, leaving her most of the bed to sleep in. She crawled in next to him and he put an arm around her waist and held her close. "Night," she said quietly.

"Night," he replied, tightening his hold just a little. Within a few moments she could hear his breathing even out, feel his hold on her loosen a bit, and she knew he was asleep. She followed him a few minutes later, hoping she'd help give him some peace tonight.


End file.
